Reversals
by The-Lady-Isis
Summary: A reposting of an old story. X-over with Superman Returns, BMWW with SMLL trim. I own nothing etc.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A re-write for you, since I wasn't 100 percent happy with the first one. I hope you liked it. Part I isn't that different, but enjoy anyway. **

**Reversals**

It didn't take him long to find Diana once he was on board the Watchtower. Bruce would be in the Cave, but he wasn't feeling quite brave enough to deal with Batman on his home turf. Especially not since he'd been in Gotham once today, and knew that would have pissed Batman off even if he hadn't been gone five years.

However, if he was expecting Diana to be easier to deal with, Superman soon realised his mistake. Diana was in the Monitor Womb, the crumpled remnants of an iced mocha cup in her hand. She was looking out at the stars.

"Hello, Diana."

"Clark."

"So...how are thi-"

"Things have changed," she said without looking at him.

He sighed quietly. "You're the second woman to tell me that today."

"Lois has a point," she replied.

Stung by the bitterness in her voice, Clark took a step forward. "Diana-"

She overrode him. "Why did you come back, Clark?"

"There was nothing there-"

And again. "You knew there was nothing before you left, and that's not what I asked." Finally she turned to him, her fists balled at her sides and every muscle tense. "_Why did you come back_?"

He opened his mouth. "Because I missed…" _Home. Lois, the League, you. _There were too many ways to end that sentence, and looking at Diana's face he'd have to be extraordinarily careful about which one he used.

She fixed him with a glare that she could have only picked up from one person. "Because you missed?" she asked dangerously.

He shrugged. "Earth," he said simply.

She scoffed, turned away again. "We've been fine without you."

"I know," he said sadly. That shouldn't hurt as much as it did.

She began pacing. "It wasn't just the world, Clark. They hated you for a while, but then they forgot you. You became just another legend to them. But you weren't just a hero." She took a step closer, and he caught the first glimpse of real sadness under her anger. Felt even more guilty. "What about us?" she asked. "What about Lois losing the man she loved? What about Bruce losing a brother-in-arms? What about me, Clark? You were my best friend."

He could find only one thing to say. "I…I'm sorry."

She shook her head, raven locks swinging around her face. "There's only so many times that sounds sincere," she said flatly, her face now blank of emotion. He hated it. She wasn't Bruce, she wasn't _supposed _to be able to do that.

"What else do you want me to say?"

"There's nothing you can say. The bridges are burnt, Clark," she said. "Don't expect them to be rebuilt anytime soon."

The doors opened with a quiet hiss behind her, and Batman stepped in silently. Clark fought the urge to groan. He couldn't deal with both of them at once. Thankfully, Bruce seemed to pick up on that, since he walked to Diana's side. "Go home, Princess."

She looked at him, then back at Clark, then Bruce again. Clark watched, stunned, as Bruce put a hand to her face gently. The two seemed to engage in some sort of silent communication for a moment. Finally she nodded, kissing his cheek and casting another truly disappointed look at Superman before leaving.

Clark couldn't stop himself from following. "Diana…"

Bruce's arm shot out and caught him in the chest. "Don't. Leave her be."

Clark looked at the floor and nodded. It occurred to him she hadn't called him Kal throughout that entire conversation. Batman walked further inside the room and over to one of the computers, accessing a programme. Superman shut his eyes. Of course. Batman couldn't come up here just to see him. In fact he was being ignored totally. Finally what little patience he had left ran out. "Are you going to say anything?" Nothing. He rubbed the bridge of his nose between forefinger and thumb. "Bruce."

"Anything I could say has already been said," his friend replied, finally looking at him and fixing him with The Look.

"So you're just going to stare at me?"

"Is it making you uncomfortable?" he asked, deadpan.

Clark sighed, and cast around for another topic. "How long have you and Diana been-"

Bruce interrupted. "Any reason I should tell you?"

"Now I'm not even allowed to make small talk?" Superman asked, exasperated.

"That's personal," Bruce said flatly. _And therefore off limits._

"Well that makes a change," Clark remarked. Five years ago, the words 'personal' and 'Batman' couldn't even coexist in the same room. But he was glad that they'd found each other, the two of them. It had been a long time coming. "It's good to see you happy," he offered.

"Diana's not happy," was the terse reply. "She hasn't been for a long time." There was no effort made to mask the bitterness of the tone or the words.

Clark frowned. "Bruce, we were never-"

Bruce interrupted. "You were her best friend. It's enough."

The silence was long, and loud, and uncomfortable. So that was his relationship with the love of his life destroyed, as well as the relationships with his two best friends. And about six billion people who, according to Diana, resented him for simply up and leaving. "So what do I do?" he asked the atmosphere in general.

Bruce got up and walked toward the door. "Wait."

* * *

He found her where she knew he would; in the Batcave, taking her anger and frustration out on an unsuspecting punch-bag. Since she'd moved in they went through at least half a dozen a month. "Diana." She didn't stop, didn't look at him. Increased her punches. "Diana." She upgraded to kicks against it as well. He walked forward. "Princess, look at me."

At the name only he used, she spoke, though she didn't stop. "How could he just- And then to-"

He stepped closer. "I know."

She sighed and rested her forehead against the punch-bag. "I don't want to forgive him, Bruce."

"No one's asking you to," he reasoned, stepped closer.

"He is," she muttered. "He won't verbalise it but it's _Clark_."

He nodded, apparently recognising the truth in that statement. "I know."

"So what do we do?" she asked bleakly.

"We forgive him," he shrugged.

Diana sighed again, knowing that the belief they could do anything else was foolish. She stepped away from the punch-bag. She kissed his cheek briefly. "I have to go. Hera only knows what Lois is going through right now." She got two steps before she hesitated again. "Do you think she'll tell him?"

"About Jason?" Bruce assumed.

Diana nodded. "Yes."

There were only three people in the world who knew the truth about Jason's paternity, and two of them were standing in this cave. When Clark had disappeared, Diana had gone to tell Lois that the League didn't think he was coming back - and consequently had been told that Lois was pregnant. Diana felt for the reporter, and over the next nine months they'd become very close, to the point of Diana being named Jason's godmother. As such, she'd been able to get a sample of Jason's DNA just after his birth. When Batman had run it through the computer, it was clear the boy was half-human, half-Kryptonian.

"I don't know," Bruce answered honestly. "Lois is nothing if not unpredictable. He hurt her badly. Worse than either of us."

Diana considered that. It was probably true - she felt betrayed, but it was nothing compared to what Lois had gone through. She swallowed. Her best friend had left, but what if it had been worse than that? What if the one person she'd always relied on suddenly left without a word? The person she needed more than anyone else had never even told her- She broke off that train of thought with a shock of self-disgust. _Hera, how could I have been so foolish?_

She turned to look at Bruce with new eyes. For the time Superman had gone, he'd been more than a teammate to her, more than a friend. A month after Clark's disappearance, she'd come to him - the first night they'd slept together. They'd been lovers for years now, and in that time they'd reversed. When they had entered into the relationship, Diana had been the ardent one, had been silently watching and waiting for Bruce. But that had changed. Slowly, she shut down emotionally. She gave her body to Bruce, but her heart had been on ice. In contrast, she knew he loved her. He would never say it, but she saw it in his eyes. Every time they made love, he kissed her with such tenderness afterward that it was unmistakable.

And he'd been there. He'd waited, all this time...because he loved her.

"Bruce, I…" Having been silent about it for so long, she had no idea to broach the subject. She settled for, "Thank you." He raised an eyebrow in question. "For… For the last five years." She so desperately wanted to say it, but something stopped her. He'd never said it to her either - and she knew that if he wanted to hear it, then he would have said it. Wouldn't he?

So she stepped back with a quick, soft kiss. "I should go to Lois."

"Be careful," he warned. "I'm going to check on Luthor. No way he's idle now Superman's back."

She nodded, sighing. Though the League had by no means been lax in its surveillance of Luthor, the fact was that he'd quietened down since Clark's departure. That didn't mean Bruce was any less suspicious of him - marrying an elderly millionairess on the point of her death hardly screamed 'reform'. But he hadn't been an active threat. Diana suspected it was what would happen to the Joker should something other than himself happen to Batman. Though, she thought, her fist curling, should anything _ever _try to take Bruce from her...

Suddenly cold, she strode quickly back over to Bruce, and kissed him deeply. Frozen in surprise for a moment, he soon reciprocated, pulling her down into the chair with him. Diana poured everything she had into the kiss, feeling him sparkle in her blood. One kiss turned into two, two turned into his cowl being pushed back, her tiara hitting the floor with a tinkling sound neither of them noticed. The past twenty-four hours had stirred so many emotions in them both - anger at Clark just waltzing back into their lives, then guilt at their anger, and the knowledge that the three of them were a _three of them_ again - hands and mouths moved against one another desperately, exploring the only thing that was the same, stable. A constant.

Except, to Diana, it wasn't. This time, she looked at him with new eyes. Not with the blind greed of pure lust, eager to taste and to take whatever he could give. This time, she gave everything, let him be the one to feast on her, gorge his senses on her sighs, her movements. She may not be able to say it yet, but with their lovemaking she did the next best thing.

In the chill of the Cave, it didn't take long for sweat to turn cold, and Diana was grateful for his warmth. He pressed a kiss to her hair and stroked down her back. "Not that I'm complaining... but what brought that on?"

She shook her head. "I just realised..."

"What?"

She looked up, hoping her eyes were conveying how much he meant to her. "How lost I'd be without you."

He kissed her. "I'm not going anywhere, Princess. I promise. I'm never leaving you like that."

She smiled sadly. _Like that_. She knew he wouldn't take off without a word - but she also knew that if he felt he was putting her in danger, or she was taking over from his duties to Gotham, he would end the relationship immediately, breaking both their hearts in the process. But that, she had known for years, though she'd never been so invested in it as she was right now. Right now, when her heart really did hang in the balance, Diana knew she'd risk it without a seconds' pause. And even if one day he did end it, he would never leave her in silence.

"I know," she replied, "I know you wouldn't."

They held each other for a moment longer before the princess knew she had to get up. She had the man she loved. Now Lois had to deal with two. She smiled at Bruce as she left, seeing him getting ready for patrol. "Don't wait up."

He smirked, and she left through the tunnel for the Batwing.

* * *

**A/N: The second part will be up soon. Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! **

**Part II**

It didn't take her long to get to Metropolis, and she headed straight for the house Lois shared with her fiancé and Jason. Her visits weren't uncommon, so she landed on the front lawn and knocked on the door. The first time she'd done this, it had been alien, a strange encounter between two women who barely knew one another.

Now, when Jason opened the door, he grinned happily. "Auntie Diana!"

She smiled back, kneeling to hug her godson. He was so much Kal's son that she wondered how it wasn't obvious to the whole world. "Hey, Jason. You okay?"

He nodded, his face full of excitement. "Have you see Superman yet? Did you talk to him? Man, he is just so _awesome_! Not that you're not awesome too," he added guilty.

Diana forced a laugh. It looked like Kal had managed to gain another fan - how would he deal with learning Jason was his most important one? Diana certainly wasn't going to tell him, and she knew Bruce wouldn't. She would be there for Lois, but that was all she was prepared to do. She owed Kal nothing.

"Yes, I've seen him. Listen, Jason, can you -"

Richard's voice interrupted. "Who is it, Jason?"

"Auntie Diana, Daddy."

Richard entered the kitchen and smiled somewhat strainedly at Diana. She understood how he must feel. Accepting that his fiancée's last love had quite literally been _Superman _was one thing; with Diana here now it must seem as though Lois was still holding a candle for Kal. The problem was, Diana knew, she was.

"Hello, Richard. I'm here to see Lois. Obviously with Superman back the League needs good press. We need to make sure people don't stop trusting the rest of us because of his return. We could also do without anymore of _those _articles," she added with a small grimace.

She saw him relax. She hadn't lied; those reasons were both true. They just weren't the most important ones. "She's in her study," Richard said, before turning his attention to the boy he thought of as his son. "C'mon, kiddo. Bed."

"Okay, Daddy. Night, Auntie Diana."

She smiled and ruffled his hair. "Sleep well, Jason." She headed down the hallway and up the stairs, entering Lois's study. It was empty, but the window was open. Diana lifted into the air and floated gently up to the roof.

Lois was sat away from her, on the edge of the roof. "You're not going to stop me smoking, are you?"

Diana chuckled and sat next to her. "Is that what Kal did?"

She nodded and pulled a cigarette out; her hands were trembling so badly she failed to light it. Diana took the lighter from her and lit it or her. Ordinarily she would have admonished the reporter for her habit, but today she figured she'd earned one. Lois inhaled a shaky breath. "Thanks."

The two women were silent for a few moments. Then Lois spoke. "I can't hate him. I wanted to, so much... What the hell do I do now?"

"That's up to you," Diana replied, "but whatever your decision, I'm with you. You owe him nothing."

Lois looked at her in apparent surprise. "You do though, don't you? Hate him, I mean?"

"I don't... I don't hate him," she said, "but... I'm so _angry_. He left. I'm not trying to belittle what he did to you, but I feel like..." She looked around, gesturing angrily at the lights of the city. "I'm angry with them too! I feel as though Kal came back and they just started _celebrating. _He's one man - I thought thy understood that, knew that we could deal with everything just fine..." She sighed. "It's like he's come back, perched on top of what Bruce and I have built, and the people have lavished all their glory on him."

"Batman wouldn't want the glory, you know that," Lois pointed out.

"Yes, but Bruce and I come from very different cultures. Mine honours heroes," Diana said simply. "_All _heroes." She shook her head. "I'm not angry with Kal. I'm angry at myself, I'm angry at them, and I hate that one day I'm going to forgive him."

When she looked down at Lois, she was holding out a cigarette. Diana laughed and waved it away. "Alright, I've vented. Your turn."

Another silence. "I just... I keep asking myself how much time I have."

"Before Jason's powers come out?"

"Before Jason does something impossible, before Luthor resurfaces and tries to kill Superman, before something else happens, God knows what." She ran a hand through her wavy brown hair. "I feel like I'm living in a house of cards. And now the strongest man in the world has come along to knock it all down." She made a movement, swiping away tears both women pretended weren't there. "I am not going to fall apart, though."

Diana smiled. "I never imagined for a moment that you would."

"I have a job to do, and I have a son to raise," Lois said firmly. "And he is _my _son, no matter what else. I love him. I'm his mommy. I'll protect him from anything."

Diana nodded approvingly. This was why she'd come; to make sure that Lois's inner strength would pull her through. It would. No matter when Clark found out, ois would weather it. She always had.

Lois looked at her. "Would you condemn me if I -" She cut off, but it was clear what she meant. _Would you condemn me if I still loved him? _

Diana hesitated. "All I can tell you, Lois, is... be careful where you place your heart. I'm not counselling you toward either of them. Just be sure you put your heart where it'll be safe."

Lois raised an eyebrow. "Like you, you mean?" she asked dryly.

Diana smiled. "No," she said, "perhaps not like me. But I didn't have a choice, Lois. The force that pulls me to Bruce... it's stronger than the pull that gravity has on you. I held back as long as I could, but now... I love him."

"Just like that?"

Diana nodded. "Just like that. It just... clicked in my heart."

"What clicked it?"

"I realised... how much I need him." She looked down. "It isn't an easy admission for an Amazon, even to myself. And I have no idea how to tell him after spending five years just using him."

"Just say it," Lois said softly. "It's three little words. And it'll all be better once you do."

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Lois Lane - hard-bitten, world-weary, cynical reporter advocating love conquers all."

Lois took a last drag of her cigarette. "Tell me about it. But for the moment it's true. I love Richard. But the fact is... Superman will never be out of my life." She smiled bitterly. "Time will tell, I guess."

Diana nodded, reflecting the truth of that. It would be the only thing that sorted out Lois's problem, in the end. Love - for one man or the other - would conquer all.

Lois threw her cigarette butt off the room and stood. "Thanks for coming, Diana."

Diana hugged her, lifting into the air as she did so and taking them back to the open study window. From the way Lois stiffened, Diana knew it was the second time she'd felt her feet leave the floor today. She felt another wave of anger at Kal. So he'd already come to Lois and tried to pick up where they'd left off. She shook her head inwardly. She never would have believed it five years ago - that Clark could be so callous as to play her Lois's heart like that.

Once inside the house, Lois let go as soon as possible. "You should go home," she said. Go tell Bruce the truth." She nudged the lasso at Diana's hip. "That's your thing, right?"

She nodded, forcing her nervousness down. The man had seen her naked more times than she could count, for Hera's sake. But baring her soul was quite different.

* * *

After ordering a transport to the manor, Diana paced up and down the Batcave, eventually sitting in the chair that a few hours ago they'd made love it. She looked up at the computer, tracking Bruce's patrol.

She didn't want to focus on anything except him, but her thoughts inevitably returned to Kal. Could the hole he'd left really be filled again so quickly? And could things go back to the way they were? Did she want them to? She hated to admit it, but without Clark leaving she wasn't sure she and Bruce would have ever taken that final step. The third part of the trinity had left a hole that had to be filled by something stronger than friendship. She _needed _Bruce without Kal. With him, she'd wanted Batman; just as she was sure he'd wanted her. With only the two of them, they'd collapsed inward and together.

_Please, _she prayed to whichever goddess was listening, _please don't take him from me now._

She'd rather the trinity never reformed than that. If the last five years had taught her anything, it was that she could cope with Clark at the other end of the universe. She could not go back to having Bruce just out of reach.

At just after half past three, she heard the sound of the Batmobile returning. It must have been a slow night, she realised, standing as the canopy opened.

"What's wrong?" Batman asked immediately.

She frowned. "Nothing. Why would anything be wrong?"

"You're normally in bed asleep when I return from patrol," he pointed out.

"I know," she sighed heavily. She hadn't cared enough before. She welcomed the knowledge that from now on there would be sleepless nights. "Bruce, I..."

He turned with the cowl off and an eyebrow raised, waiting for her to continue. She moved forward and took his hands, kissing them. "I love you. And I'm sorry it took me so long to say it. That it took... _him _for me to say it."

He pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her hair. Uncertainly filled her as the wait for his reply seemed to stretch into forever. Then he spoke. "I love you too, Diana." He breathed a sigh against her hair as he carried on in a lowered voice. "So much..."

"Things aren't going to be the same as they were, are they?" she asked, her fear still simmering at the surface. "I'll understand if you want them to be, but give me one more day." She looked up, pleading with his eyes. "Can I have one more day?"

"Every day I have left," he promised, kissing her. "My life is yours. It always has been."

* * *

**A/N: Yes, those last lines are from JLA #90, but they're so romantic that it makes my heart thump every time I think about them. I'll do a final part, to tie up the trinity, since I'm not sure I can really have them be all fractured etc. Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! This last bit is set after the movie, and once Supes has made a full recovery. I know it seems like Diana's being unnecessarily petty, but she's a woman like any other, and we can be a bit vindictive sometimes. I'm convinced it's true for Amazon princesses as well!**

**Enjoy! **

**Part III**

When Clark entered the conference room, he was still whistling. Diana stiffened. He'd been on a high since learning Jason was his son, and while she could understand it would be a wonderful thing to know, she did not believe he had any right to be so jubilant. Surely he had to see it had the potential to destroy Jason's life, and certainly the family he'd ever known?

Though there was a Founders' meeting in a few minutes, for the moment they were the only two in here. Clark's whistling stopped as soon as he spotted her. "Hey, Diana," he greeted tentatively.

"Superman."

He was silent for a few moments. "You didn't tell me you were Jason's godmother."

She shrugged, not looking up. "Lois and I had time to get close."

"Thanks for looking after him."

"Someone had to," she replied.

His patience snapped. "Are you ever going to forgive me? I'm sorry, Diana, okay? But there is literally nothing else I can say!"

"No one's _asking_ you to do or say anything."

"So I'm interfering where I'm not needed, is that it?"

"Pretty much," she agreed coolly.

He looked as though he were ready to tear out his hair. "Enough, Diana! I get that the world got along fine without me - but I got it the first three hundred times I was told. _Why _are you so insistent on constantly reminding me?"

"So that you never take us for granted again!" she snapped. "And you did, Clark! You left, and assumed we'd all be waiting for you whenever you decided to grace us with your presence again! And guess what - we _didn't _need you. We still don't. Bruce and I don't need you to keep the League running, Lois doesn't need you to be the only man in the world capable of loving her, Jason-"

"Don't you dare for one second tell me he doesn't need me!"

Diana took a step forward, still yelling, with blazing eyes. "He doesn't. Richard's been his father all his life, loved him and raised him as you should have done, without-"

His jaw dropped. "You - You _knew_?"

She nodded. "I knew. We've known from the day he was born."

"How could you not tell me?" he demanded. "You didn't think I deserved to know I had a son?!"

"No, frankly, I didn't - and anyway, would it have mattered?"

Clark looked aghast. "Diana, how can you think it wouldn't _matter_?"

"Oh forgive me," she said sarcastically, "I was under the impression you knew what could occur when two people have sex!"

"Don't mock me, Diana, of course I-"

"Then I think you've just answered your own question!" she spat back. "Was it simply that your own desires were more important than your responsibilities here?"

He looked down, not really able to argue with that. He had gone because of his own wishes. No one had compelled him to go. No one had forced him. Diana pushed her point. "Do you honestly expect me to believe you _loved _any of us? Oh, no, that's not fair is it? You obviously cared enough about Lois to sleep with her before waltzing out of her life!"

"Enough!"

They both jumped, looking toward the now-open doors. Batman stood there, giving them both the fiercest glare in his arsenal. Diana almost flinched; she'd never been on the receiving end of the batglare before; at least not one like that.

Bruce moved inside, and the doors shut behind him. He pushed the cowl back, and intensified the glare. "Are you out of your _minds_?" he asked quietly, his tone deadly.

Clark looked as though he very much wanted to say, 'she started it', but wisely kept silent. Diana looked away, refusing to acknowledge she'd done anything wrong.

Bruce continued. "If you want to kill each other in the training rooms, fine, but the entire League is aware that the balance of power has shifted with the Founders. We need to put up a united front, which is impossible when you two are at each others' throats!"

Diana spoke up hotly. "I'm not the one who-"

"You have a responsibility to the League, Diana," Bruce said, not gentling his tone, "and you know that what they and the world need right now is for us to work together. This is our _profession_, it's what we do. Keep any personal issues you might have off the Watchtower, understood?"

She blew out a sigh. "Understood."

"Good. Superman?"

"Yes," Clark said.

Batman nodded shortly. "Now apologise to each other."

The looks they shot him were identical. Eyebrows raised in disbelief at being treated like children, then mouthes twitching when they realised he was serious. Eventually Diana giggled, then Clark laughed. After a moment they were both holding their sides, laughing uproariously and with tears rolling down their cheeks. Watching, Batman was holding his breath - then one of them moved. He wasn't sure which, but suddenly the two best friends were hugging each other tightly, and still crying.

Bruce let out a sigh of relief, then moved toward his seat. Only to find himself being grabbed by two superstrong hands and being hauled unceremoniously into the hug himself.

_No good deed goes unpunished. _

---

**A/N: Review please! **


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